The CrossingCunderdin toward Kellerberrin
Beyond The Dress Rehearsal
On the fourth morning I stepped beyond anything the Bunbury rehearsal had tested. The highway was calmer, the crew walked beside me and the three HAAmigos began to find a rhythm.
I can frame it this clearly now: Day 4 was the first day past the rehearsal.
The Bunbury practice walk had gone for three days. That had been the test, the proof that I could do more than one big day and get up again. I don’t know that I was doing the maths that cleanly at the time, but this morning was different. The crew returned me to the place where I’d stopped the night before, and I stepped onto Great Eastern Highway in new territory.
The day started with a small kindness from the night before still in my head. Jim at Cunderdin Caravan Park had signed one of the “lock in the love” hearts and wished us well. Those moments mattered more than they probably looked from the outside. They were little handholds: proof that people understood enough of what we were doing to get pulled into the HAA orbit.
The plan still looked neat enough from the outside: 50 or 60 kilometres a day, one or two rest days a week, roughly 300 kilometres each week if everything behaved itself. Inside the day it was less tidy. It was broken into smaller pieces, then smaller pieces again. Get to the next stop. Sit down. Eat. Swap bottles. Stand up. Convince the feet that standing up was not a terrible idea.
The highway felt calmer than it had the night before. Day 3 had ended with road trains, darkness, weather, anxiety and a pickup call. The risk hadn’t gone away, but I could be wary without being overwhelmed.
We were moving before 6:30am in cool, still conditions, with Kellerberrin waiting somewhere up ahead. The day had its public jokes too. The #FindRichard thread was still alive enough for another little video. A 55 kilometre day clearly needed a roadside attempt to attract a billionaire’s attention as well.
By evening, 49 kilometres were done and there were six left after a hot black coffee. Ben had walked 15 kilometres with me earlier. Ols came out for the last six. It was always good to have company from either of them. Between them, the boys gave me 21 kilometres of company, which is a huge thing on a highway day. It meant less time inside my own head and more time inside the strange little rolling world we were building.
That world had Poppet’s Pantry dinners, tired jokes, videos I wish we had filmed more of, and the early shape of the three HAAmigos. It also had feet that made me hobble around like an old man once the day’s work was done. It was not really blisters. Legs and back could be sore too, but the thing making me struggle was mostly the muscles in my feet objecting to the daily punishment.
At 8.45pm we called it: 55.11 kilometres locked away. We drove into Kellerberrin to sleep, with the walking set to restart where I’d stopped.
Ben heated the Poppet’s Pantry dinners while we found showers, uploaded what we could and checked bodies and gear. A late crew-roster video caught some of the ridiculous domestic rhythm inside the van.
Four days in, we had passed 200 kilometres and were still on target. The alarm was set.
Videos From The Day
Day 4 #FindRichard
A Day 4 roadside #FindRichard clip, keeping the Richard Branson and Virgin Sport thread alive from Great Eastern Highway.
Open on YouTubeDay 4 crew roster
A late Day 4 campervan clip catching the early three-HAAmigos domestic rhythm after 55.11 km.
Open on YouTubeImages From The Day
